Injured sportsmen and women will do anything to get better. From oxygen tents to placenta massages, if there's a chance it might heal them, they'll try it. The Australian-born Olympic hopeful Theodora Spathis is resorting to space-age technology. After injuring her achilles tendon last May, Spathis has been undergoing Scenar treatment (developed to treat cosmonauts in the Soviet era), which releases small electrical impulses into the muscles to cause the brain to release natural healing compounds.

A flower company based in Derbyshire has been told it won't be allowed to sell its Olympic-themed roadside plants because they infringe London's 2012 brand. Locog issued Plantscape with a 21-page booklet outlining what can and can't be used to promote the Games but the company's owners feel the details are unclear and their generic design doesn't break branding rules.

The Olympic torch will travel to the UK from Athens in a specially designed cradle on board a gold liveried British Airways flight. After being lit at the Temple of Hera in Olympia and following an eight-day relay around Greece, the torch will travel to Cornwall where it will begin a 70-day national relay before arriving in London.

One of Bulgaria's top shooters is threatening to boycott the Games. Maria Grozdeva, a double Olympic champion who won the 25 metres pistol in 2000 and 2004, made the threat after her club were expelled from the Bulgarian shooting federation for failing to take part in domestic competitions. "Yes, it's an ultimatum," said Grozdeva. "Let's see who is more important."

In another Bulgarian controversy the country's weightlifting federation is threatening to block two Bulgarian-born athletes from competing in London. Boyanka Kostova and Valentin Hristov started competing for Azerbaijan after Bulgaria received €400,000 in compensation but their native country is now demanding more money if they want to compete at the Olympics.

For some athletes the Olympics offer a chance to make themselves a household name but for many others just getting there is a struggle. The shooter Sergy Rikhter was the first Israeli to qualify for London 2012 but now he just needs to afford it. He has taken to online fundraising to raise the 50,000 shekels needed to fuel his dream. If you want to donate, 50 shekels (about £8.50) will get you a thank-you card and 1,200 shekels (£200) will get you a private shooting lesson with Rikhter himself.

Rome will not be hosting the 2020 Olympics after the prime minister, Mario Monti, refused to support a bid from the city. Following a cabinet meeting on Tuesday the bid was abandoned as projected costs of $12.5bn (£7.9bn) proved too high for Italy's precarious economy. That leaves Istanbul, Tokyo, Baku, Doha and Madrid competing to host the Games.

The American boxer Tyrieshia Douglas says she would love to box in a short skirt at the first ever women's Olympic boxing programme. The International Amateur Boxing Association caused controversy when it encouraged female boxers to wear skirts but the 23-year-old wants them to be allowed to help identify women in the ring more easily.

Good with words? Got a rhyme for gold medal? Then enter this Olympic-themed micro-poetry competition launched by The Poetry Society of Social Media & SMS. Poems must be 160 characters or under and must be based on the Olympics. With 2012 organisers promising a festival of culture around the Games, a lot more of this kind of thing can be expected through the year.